JSOnline: New Wisconsin venture capital fund has the potential to be a watershed moment

Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn Chairman and CEO Terry Gou, said the company is trying to be “an enabler of technology.” (Photo: Rick Romell / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

That simple fact, supported by research from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, cuts through all the political rhetoric about building a growing economy, the holy grail of every state or region. Unfortunately, the Milwaukee area has lagged in most measures of entrepreneurial activity in recent years, falling to 33 out of 40 in the most recent rankings from Kauffman, which conducts research and advocates for entrepreneurship.

That’s why Tuesday’s announcement that Foxconn is partnering with three of Milwaukee’s most prominent corporate citizens to create a venture capital fund has the potential to be a watershed moment for southeastern Wisconsin.

It’s a given that Foxconn Technology Group’s massive factory in southern Wisconsin could have a profound impact on the state’s economy. It’s a $10 billion investment, after all, a mammoth plant that could employ as many as 13,000 people.

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